'Hopefully, I rise to the occasion'- Gabby Thomas steps up to the 400m against world's best at Grand Slam Track

'Hopefully, I rise to the occasion'- Gabby Thomas steps up to the 400m against world's best at Grand Slam Track

Abigael Wafula 13:39 - 04.04.2025

In a bold move, Gabby Thomas has stepped out of her comfort zone to take on 400m titans Marileidy Paulino and Salwa Eid Naser, chasing greatness and $100,000 with fearless resolve at the Grand Slam Track.

Triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas has welcomed the challenge of competing against Olympic 400m champion Marileidy Paulino and Salwa Eid Naser among other stars at the Grand Slam Track.

Gabby Thomas revealed that she had to make the tough decision to switch up her distance for the Grand Slam Track and challenge herself. She signed up to compete in the 200m and 400m.

The American sprint queen revealed that competing against the seasoned 400m runners will be a tough one but she is ready to give her all as she looks to walk away with $100,000 in both events.

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“It was a hard decision to make obviously I can do the short sprints or the long and my coach and I sat down and we made decisions on which slams we would do,” Gabby Thomas told Citius Mag.

“The 400m is a little bit more fun to run earlier in the season but at the end of the day it didn’t really matter.

“When I think about racing Salwa and Paulino, I think I’m really going to challenge myself, it’s going to be a hard race, I’m going to challenge myself and I’m doing it against the best of the best. I’m welcoming that challenge, I’m accepting it and hopefully, I rise to the occasion.”

Gabby Thomas confident about competing in the 200m

Gabby Thomas confident about competing in the 200m at Grand Slam Track

The world champion also opened up about her preparation for the 200m, revealing that she is ready to compete in her core event.

She is aware of the pressure on her to deliver in the 200m, owing to the fact that she is the reigning Olympic champion and has won a series of races over the distance.

“I feel pretty confident in my speed and the 200m is my favourite event and I will definitely be the favourite just because it’s my main event. You have to kind of stretch yourself to make it work,” Gabby Thomas added.

Gabby Thomas excited about Grand Slam Track

Gabby Thomas excited about Grand Slam Track
Gabby Thomas excited about Grand Slam Track

She went down memory lane to the time she started conversations about the track league, at the Paris Olympic Games.

Gabby Thomas expressed her excitement to see the fruition of the track league, revealing that Michael Johnson has assembled

“I’m really excited, I first heard about Grand Slam, it feels like forever ago now and I remember having the initial meeting back at the Paris Olympics and hearing the concept for the first time and I thought it was absolutely incredible,” Gabby Thomas said.

“I’m an athlete who loves to race and I believe in racing against the best and I’m excited for it to finally come to fruition.”

Grand Slam Track debuts in Kingston, Jamaica from April 4 to 6 before moving to Miami, then Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

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